Laws for shooting on my property.

[trapperj86]

Hi, does anyone know the laws for target shooting on my property. I live in Wayne county in the woods. I have a few neighbors (not shooting anywhere near or towards any house's) and no one has an issue except one that is ~1/8-1/4 of a mile away. I shoot at most once a week usually around 4pm . So I am not shooting at unreasonable times or excessively. So I am just looking to find out the law before she calls the police.
Thanks, Matt

[Dredly]

you have to go all the way down to the township level to determine this

[trapperj86]

Ok Thanks, I will do that.

[mrnyman]

Yeah every township has different ordnances regarding shooting on your own property.

State law only requires that you do not shoot within 500 feet of a dwelling, or accross a roadway, after that the Townships set their own rules.

Up where i live in Monroe, i shoot in my backyard all the time, none of my neighbors complain one of whom is a retired NYPD cop. I just keep it reasonable , no late night or early morning shooting.

When my Niece and Nephew comes over from the Iron Curtain they have fun shooting all kinds of Guns in my Backyard, some of my neighbors shoot too in thier property.

Stop by the Township office and ask them , they will tell you right off the bat.

[GunLawyer001]

. . .
State law only requires that you do not shoot within 500 feet of a dwelling, or accross a roadway, after that the Townships set their own rules.
. . .

I'm not aware of a state law that prohibits casual target shooting (non-hunting) within 500 feet of a dwelling. Safety zones apply to activities regulated by the Game Code. Target shooting in your own back yard isn't a Game Code matter.

[jimbo]

sorry for bumping an old thread, but no reason to start a new one if the info is already there.

I'm not aware of a state law that prohibits casual target shooting (non-hunting) within 500 feet of a dwelling. Safety zones apply to activities regulated by the Game Code. Target shooting in your own back yard isn't a Game Code matter.

this is exactly the info I was looking for. GL001 comes up big YET AGAIN!

We have land out in Huntingdon county. It's 35 acres and adjacent to approximately 5,000 acres of State game land. Our range is 62 yards and the backstop is a natural hill/mountain that is about 400ft high.

We had a minor issue back in May when we were shooting one Saturday afternoon. The neighbor across the street yelled over "why don't you do that sh#t at your own house". Well, unfortunately for her, we have owned this land for 44 years. She's the newcomer. We only shoot about 4 days a year up there, but I guess she wasn't happy about it. I checked into the township and there are no ordinances against discharging a firearm. We're perfectly legal. We attempted to discuss this with her and she wanted no parts of it. After speaking with a few of the locals, she's not well liked and is one of the typical city dwellers that moved out to the country, but wants likes like it was in the city.

I was the only camp member present at the time. While most of them were not against us shooting, they wanted to know that we were fully within the law. Of course, by the time it got passed around to all of the members, it went from 5 of us shooting handguns (one at a time) to us doing full mag dumps with AK's. Even with that, we were still within the law, but I could understand a neighbor getting upset with a bunch of guys doing mag dumps for 8 hours. (we were shooting for about 4)

We just had our pre-deer season camp meeting and it was decided that we just continue to be polite, but pretty much ignore her. Our main concern was what would happen if she decided to call the police.


Thanks guys!
Jim

ps I had to laugh when I googled this and the firs 10 results were from here. I tried to pick the most recent thread to bump. Should have just came straight here!

[Swarner793]

State law only requires that you do not shoot within 500 feet of a dwelling, or accross a roadway, after that the Townships set their own rules.

I am familiar with the 150 yard "Safety Zone" when hunting, but what is the State Law that you are referring to? Heck, it is not even unlawful to shoot across a highway, if done safely.

I am just curious where the above comes from.

Be safe (and accurate).

Scott

ETA: Damn Gunlawyer, do you ever sleep?

[Dredly]

Yeah every township has different ordnances regarding shooting on your own property.

State law only requires that you do not shoot within 500 feet of a dwelling, or accross a roadway, after that the Townships set their own rules.

Up where i live in Monroe, i shoot in my backyard all the time, none of my neighbors complain one of whom is a retired NYPD cop. I just keep it reasonable , no late night or early morning shooting.

When my Niece and Nephew comes over from the Iron Curtain they have fun shooting all kinds of Guns in my Backyard, some of my neighbors shoot too in thier property.

Stop by the Township office and ask them , they will tell you right off the bat.

once again its dependent on the township, not the county, in some cases its even down to the area in the county you live in (ie: PCP has "laws" on shooting" which don't apply outside the ghetto.

I would suggest not just asking someone but getting it in writing in case your neighbors decide to call the state police on ya

[Gunowner99]

Yeah every township has different ordnances regarding shooting on your own property.

State law only requires that you do not shoot within 500 feet of a dwelling, or accross a roadway, after that the Townships set their own rules.

Up where i live in Monroe, i shoot in my backyard all the time, none of my neighbors complain one of whom is a retired NYPD cop. I just keep it reasonable , no late night or early morning shooting.

When my Niece and Nephew comes over from the Iron Curtain they have fun shooting all kinds of Guns in my Backyard, some of my neighbors shoot too in thier property.

Stop by the Township office and ask them , they will tell you right off the bat.

I wish I could...

[roberts257ai]

One thing most are not aware of is you must have a appropriate backstop. If you do not and are using someone else's property ( hill, etc.) you could be charged for trespassing. Sounds crazy but I had a issue with a neighbor using my property as a backstop and spoke with an attorney about it.